Syrian creatives plead for 'vital return' of artists to spearhead cultural renaissance

Industry figures, hopeful the country will regain its position as a global cultural hub, say the future is bright for the arts

Artists say they no longer feel 'muzzled' after the downfall of Syrian leader Bashar Al Assad. Reuters

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As the hopeful blaze that has consumed Syria for the past fortnight continues to smoulder, the nation’s creative scene is stepping up, filled with excitement for new beginnings.

After almost half a century of restrictions, limitations and oppression, Syria’s creatives can now breathe again as they seek to restore its cultural position in the region. Out in the jubilant streets of Damascus, The National spoke to leaders in the nightlife and art scenes about the downfall of Bashar Al Assad.

Michael Atallah is an electronic music pioneer and founder of “Siin Experience”, which hosts music events in spectacular locations such as the Krak des Chevaliers fortress, about 40km west of Homs. He feels a weight has been lifted after Al Assad fled.

“The feeling was immense that in the end we were no longer forced to constantly compromise or we were always scared, we couldn't talk to each other about our true feelings, I started remembering the protests in Al Hasakah in my university days," said Atallah.

“Straight away I felt a relief, with a bit of fear for all our people because we didn’t know exactly was happening. It’s a strange feeling but one of true freedom, and something that you only live once in your life. We haven’t slept for the last 10 days.”

'Syria has to be a free space'

Continuing progress in the nightlife community in Syria is his chief aim now, he added. “We started Siin Experience and it hit because people wanted to rave in the country," he said. "We brought the Syrian artist Omar Souleyman, but the regime banned him from singing on more than one occasion.”

“Now we don’t need to go through that again. Nightlife is so important and we want to continue. Syrians need this and a free Syria needs this. We have to protect the nightlife and the artists and the creative scene, dancers, everything. Syria has to be a free space.”

While the situation quickly stabilises in Syria, Atallah said the creative scene must thrive and be protected. “We have to strive to have a country that is accepting of everything, laws that govern us, that’s our dream," he added.

Alepine Phillipe Boshoco, a cap-wearing DJ who fuses tarab (classical Arabic folk music of verse-repeating poems that trigger a trance-like state) and techno, said that when the regime in Aleppo fell he knew it would reignite Syria's creative spirit.

“We had to make music and connect with our peers inside and outside Syria while being muzzled by one of the strongest dictatorships ever," he said. "I believe anything after the fall of this regime is better than where it had led us. Divided, scattered around the world and paranoid against one another. This is reflected in how musicians work together.”

He believes the Assad regime had restricted and choked the creative scene, and hopes it will be a space for all Syrians going forward. “The main institutions, including universities, had an outdated mentality and this was transported to the students and artists," he said. "We need in the future a free space for creativity, free mental space first of all and an environment that fosters collaboration and easy access inside to outside and vice versa.“

But with systems entrenched for more than two decades, Boshoco also feels that it will take time to change mentalities completely. “It might take time as we are still paying the debts Assad left behind, but Syria’s history shows that nothing can stop it from being a source and a hub of music, art and culture," he said. "I hope Aleppo will regain its position as a cultural hub, but what is important most of all is unity, and arts can contribute to unity."

‘Syria’s artists must return’

For years, the nation’s artists and innovators have existed in the shadow of a single leader and his regime. Now, with the collapse of the old order, many are experiencing a newfound freedom that they have long yearned for.

Fine artist Rala Tarabishi said: “I never knew what freedom meant. Many people I know have tasted the horrors of the regime’s violence. Before Saturday morning, we couldn’t share our stories out of fear.”

Like many of Syria’s emerging artists, the hope and nostalgia of this period means something different for those that have only known limits and restrictions, Tarabishi added. “I’ve always dreamt and hoped for a life where you can live dignified, true and unafraid," Tarabishi said. "Now, we can start building the Syria we all want to live in, where people are allowed to dream beyond having basic human rights."

Samer Kozah, a long-established Syrian art curator who runs a gallery in Damascus, believes Assad's government did not have an overt influence on the art community's output, as the scene remained largely independent. Kozah added: “Since 2008, I’ve never invited any minister of culture to my events, but the former regime has nothing to do with art, creatively they are very far away.”

The war and the instability in the country have meant that many of Syria’s top creative talents left the country, but Kozah believes that they must return to make Syria’s art scene great again.

“We know that a large amount of artists left Syria over the last 15 years, for many different reasons, and that’s why the bulk of the best Syrian art was abroad and not in the country," he added.

Nour Salman who runs the Art Vision gallery in Damascus, believes that Syria must learn to create a new identity and look towards the future. “When I decided to open my own art gallery in Syria, my main goal was to make exhibitions that show beautiful art, and at the same time that touch something inside each Syrian and person that will come into the gallery," Salman added.

"I did my best to show topics that explain the pain and suffering of everything that happened during the uprising. I created an exhibition called Incomplete Youth, which talked about migration, destruction and our broken dreams. It was a chance for each artist to show their pain and anger.”

The past is a turbulent and painful nightmare for many Syrians and that was reflected in the art, which was often around the destruction and the negative points in the country. Salman believes that the future is bright and Syrians should now focus on building it. She said: “As Syrians, whether we leave or stay, whatever happens, the country is always in our hearts. I want us to speak about our dreams and ambitions together and grow this scene.

"It's crucial that the artists who left the country return. We have to improve our country and develop the art scene. Syrian art is among the most important in the world. We have to help it and support it, love our country."

For the first time, Syria's talented creatives are enjoying authentic freedom. With a surge of new artists emerging, this revitalised landscape could signal the dawn of a hopeful era and help reverse the brain drain that has plagued the country's creative sector.